Mike Zafirovski, or Mike Z as he prefers to be called, has coaxed Nortel back from the brink of disaster since becoming president and chief executive of the Canadian telecommunications equipment maker in November 2005.

Now the Macedonia-born 53-year-old, who was educated in America and holds a degree in mathematics from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, is positioning Nortel for growth in an increasingly competitive, consolidating market poised for the next round of technology upgrades including 4G wireless broadband.